Animal-operated feeding device



F. McARTHUR. ANIMAL OPERATED FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FLLEDlULY10,1920-- Patented. Sept. 6, 1921.

PATENT FINLEY MGARTH'UR, 0E CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

ANIMAL-O?ERATED FEEDING DEVICE.

Application filed July 10,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FINLEY MGARTHUR, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Cedar Rapids, Linn county, Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Anima-LOperated Feeding Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in feeding devices, and particularly to that class of such devices as are capable of being operated at will by animals, such as hogs, and the objects of my improvements are, first, to provide in a. feeding device movable conveying means for regularly conveying feed to a feeding receptacle, such means being operable by an animal; second, to furnish a reactive movable closure for the feeding receptacle also operable by the animal in moving it to an open position; third, to secure desired adjustments of the operating means for the conveyer to permit variations in. the scope of the intermittent movements of the latter in handling feeds of different consistencies, and lastly, to incorporate a device for adjustably varying the delivery of a hopper relative to said conveyer and to the feeding receptacle.

These objects have been accomplished by the means which are hereinafter described and claimed, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section from front to rear of my improved device, taken on the broken line l1 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow, with some parts shown in elevation; Fig. 2 is a substantially horizontal section of said device, taken on the broken line 22 of said Fig. 1; F 3 is an enlarged detail view of the ratchet mechanism which actuates the endless conveyer, and Fig. 4; is a perspective view of the adjustable hopper element by which the feed delivery of the hopper is regulated.

Similar numerals of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The numeral 3 denotes a vertically elongated housing having a flooring 2 with recess to seat a removable feed receptacle 1, said housing having a door opening 4 in its front wall. In the pitched roof 49 of said housing is a central opening 54 through which feed may be deposited, the upper part of the housing serving as a hopper therefor. This opening is closed by means oi" a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921. 1920. Serial No. 395,283

pair of overlapping swinging closures 52 and 53 mounted on hinges 51, the latter fixed on cleats 50 mounted on said root. The dotted lines in said Fig. 1 indicate the open positions of said closures 52 and 53.

"The upper part ofsaid housing is provided with means for contracting or diminishing its interior width from front to rear, thus supplying a downward diminished delivery part or delivery opening for the hopper. This means comprises an angularly bent plate 30 fixed on the inner front wall of the housing, and whose main portion is sloped from without downwardly and inwardly; a similar device 38 being mounted on the opposite inner rear wall oi the housing at a somewhat lower level. The device 38 is best shown in Fig. 4, in which means are shown connected rigidly therewith adapted for vertical adjustment within the housing. This means consists of a standard 39 vertically elongated, and having a vertical longitudinal slot 40 to adjustably receive a headed bolt 41, the latter traversing the bolt hole in the housing, and secured to the housing by a nut 42 to maintain, the sloping element 38 in a desired position of vertical adjustment. Tmmediately below said elements 30 and 38, extending at a slight inclination downwardly and rearwardly from below the element 30 to a position slightly below and anterior to the element 38, is an endless conveyor which supports and receives upon its upper strand feed deposited within said hopper, the conveyor being operable by mechanism to be described, to convey portions of said feed regularly yet intermittently, between it and the element 30, for deposition in the feecing vessel 1 below. veyer is adapted to be operated by an animal. such as a hog, through the medium of the following described connecting devices:

In front of the feeding vessel 1 extending from the door opening t rearwardly to said vessel, is a plane body 8, or a tilting platform which is mounted to swing up or down and belongs to the third order of levers. The numeral 6 denotes orificed lugs depending from the under side of the forward end of said platform, and which lugs are pivotally mounted or fulcrumed on pintles 5 mounted in short vertical lugs 7 fixed on the floor 2. At one end of the rear part of the upper surface of said platform is fixed a short standard 9 orificed to receive This endless cona hook 10 secured to the lower extremity of an operating cord 11. The upper end of this cord is secured to the longer terminal 17 of the bell-crank lever 19, the latter being mounted to rock on a stud 18 fixed on a side wall of the housing. another cord 20 is secured to a. shorter terminal of said bell-crank lever, the other end of said cord being secured to the depending or free end of a rock-hanger arm 21. The upper end of this arm is pivotally mounted on a horizontal rotatable shaft 22 upon which is fixedly mounted a ratchet wheel 23, also horizontally spaced sprocket-wheels 24, and an intermediate smooth faced roller 55. A similar shaft 29 has like sprocket wheels 2S and an intermediate roller 56 mounted thereon, and said sprocket wheels carry and are meshed with the opposite end parts of a pair of sprocket-chains 25, the latter connected at intervals by transverse angle-bars 26 on their outer edges. The latter deviceprovides an endless conveyer in conjunction with the smooth rollers aforesaid, and with an inclined flat plate 27 supported immediately below the upper strand of the conveyer between said sprocket wheels. This plate serves not only to keep the upper strand of the conveyer taut but also closes the openings thereof and provides a basis or imperforate member for the superincumbent feed in the lower part of said hopper which rests thereon. The swinging arm 21 carries a pawl or dog 32 whose lower end is weighted to keep its upper terminal in movable engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 23. The forward 7 end of a cord 33 is connected to the lower end of said arm 21, passed thence over a grooved sheave 34:, mounted on a pintle 35, the lower extremity of said cord carrying a weight 36 movable downwardy into an open boxing 37 fixed on the inner rear wall of the housing.

The numeral 31 denotes a rearwardly and downwardly inclined pent-roof or deflector extending fixedly rearwardly from the front wall of the housing underneath said endless conveyer which serves both to cover in the interior of the housing therebelow in front of the vessel 1, and also to catch any feed which may pass or escape from said conveyer and permit it to flow downwardly into said vessel. The numeral 14 denotes an im perforate depending swinging gate or closure for removably closing the front of said vessel to the rear of the operating platform 8. This dependin plate or gate 44 is hinged to the body 31 at 4:3, and is preferably medially horizontally bent rearwardly as shown. This closure 44 is normally kept closed by its own gravity, but tensioning means may be connected thereto to insure its returning to the closed position. This may be a cord leading from an eye 45 on the An extremity of front face of said closure over a grooved sheave a7, the other end of the cord carrying the pendent weight 13. The vertical scope of swinging movement upwardly of the alatform 8 is adjustably limited by a slide 12 which is longitudinally slotted at.

13 to receive a threaded bolt 15 fixed in the adjacent side-wall of the housing and adjustably secured by a nut 14. The lower end of the slide 12 has an angularly directed foot 16 interposed in the upward path of movement of said platform.

When a hog or other animal enters the door 4; and stands upon the platform 8, the latter is swung downwardly by means of the above described connecting elements rotating the ratchet wheel 23 a. certain distance thus shifting the upperv strand of the endless conveyer rearwardly, whose angle bars 26 transfer portions of the superincumbent mass of feed through the interspace of the conveyer and the body 38 thus depositing it in the feeding vessel 1. The animal may swing open the closure 14 by pushing it at its forward concavity by its head to permit it to feed from said vessel 1. When the animal departs, said closure swings back into closed position and the platform 8 is swung upwardly by reason of the reaction impulse imparted by the previously lifted weight 36 from this latter acvariations may be made in the different features of this device without, however, departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An animal operated feeding device comprising a housing having an entrance in a side wall and a receiving opening in its top provided with a closure, an imperforat e plate supported across the interior of the housing midway of its height; the upper part of the housing thereabove serving as a hopper, an endless conveyer encompassing said plate including end sprocket-chains and spaced sprocket-wheels carrying same, a ratchet-wheel coaxially secured on one of said sprocket-wheels, a rock-arm pivotally mounted on the axis of the ratchet-wheel and carrying a weighted pawl which movably engages teeth of the ratchet-wheel a medially pivoted bell-crank lever, a flexible connection between one arm of said lever.

top provided with a closure, an imperforate plate supported across the interiorof the housing midway of its height, the upper part of the housing thereabove serving as a hopper, an endless conveyer encompassing said plate including end sproclret-chains and spaced sprocket-wheels carrying same, a ratchet-wheel coaxially secured on one of said sprocket-wheels, a rock-arm pivotally mounted on the axis of the ratchet-wheel and carrying a weighted pawl which movably engages teeth of the ratchet-wheel, a medially pivoted bell-crank lever, a flexible connection between one arm of said lever and said rock-arm, a swinging platform, a flexible connection between said platform and the other arm of said bell-crank lever, and an adjustable abutment mounted in the path of movement of said platform to limit its movement in one direction.

3. An animal operated feeding device, comprising a housing having an entrance in a side wall and a receiving opening in its top provided with a closure, an imperforate plate supported across the interior of the housing midway of its height, the upper part of the housing thereabove serving as a hopper, an endless conveyer encompassing said plate including end sprocket-chains and spaced sprocket-wheels carrying same, a ratchet-wheel coaxially secured on one of said sprocket-wheels, a rock-arm pivotally mounted on the axis of the ratchet-wheel and carrying a weighted pawl which movably engages teeth of the ratchet-wheel, an idler-sheave, a flexible element connected to said roclnarm and passed dependingly about said sheave, a weight suspended on the depending end of said element, a medially pivoted bell-crank lever, a flexible connection between one arm of said lever and said rockarm, a swinging platform, and a flexible connection between said platform and the other arm of said bell-crank lever.

l. An animal operated feeding device, comprising a housing having an entrance in a side wall and a receiving opening in its top provided with a closure, an imperforate plate supported across the interior of the housing midway of its height, the upper part of the housing thereabove serving as a hopper, an endless conveyor encompassing said plate including end sprocket-chains and spaced sprocket-wheels carrying same, the delivery end of said conveyer being spaced from the adjacent wallof the housing, an upwardly-inclined body mounted for vertical adjustment upon the said inner wall and adapted to be moved to vary the area of the interspace between the delivery end of said conveyer and said wall, an imperforate inclined plate under said conveyer to receive from the interspace of the opposite end of the conveyer and the housing and deliver below the delivery end of the conveyer, a ratchet-wheel coaxially secured on one of said sprocket-wheels, a rock-arm pivotally mounted on the axis of the ratchet-wheel and carrying a weighted pawl which movably engages teeth of the ratchet-wheel, a medially pivoted bell-crank lever, a flexible connection between one arm of said lever and said rock-arm, a swinging platform, and a flexible connection between said platform and the other arm of said bell-crank lever.

55. An animal operated feeding device,

comprising a housing having an entrance in a side wall and a receiving opening in its top provided with a closure, an imperforate plate supported across the interior of the housing IDlClWlY'Of its height, the upper part of the housing thereabove serving as a hopper, an endless conveyer encompassing said plate including end sprocketchains and spaced sprocket-wheels carrying same, the delivery end of said conveyor being spaced from the adjacent wall of the housing, an upwardlyinclined body mounted for vertical adjustment upon the said inner wall and adapted to be moved to vary the area of the interspace between the delivery end of said conveyer and said wall, an imperforate inclined plate under said conveyor to receive from the interspace of the opposite end of the conveyer and the housing and deliver below the delivery end of the conveyer, a ratchet-wheel coaxially secured on one of said sprocketwheels, a rock-arm pivotally-mounted on the axis of the ratchet-wheel and carrying a weighted pawl which movably engages teeth of the ratchet-wheel, a medially pivoted bellcrank lever, a flexible connection between one arm of said lever and said rock-arm, a swingingplatform, and a flexible connection between said platform and the other arm of said bell-crank lever, an angular plate hung swingingly from the delivery end part of last-mentioned inclined plate, an idler sheave, a flexible element connected to said angular plate and carried about said sheave, and a weight suspended upon the depending end of said element.

Signed at Waterloo, Iowa, this 19th of June, 1920.

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FINLEY MGARTHUR.

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